account currency

[ronn99999]

I started a Paypal account in Canadian dollars (I thought). It is based on a Canadian Credit Card, a Canadian Bank account in a Canadian bank, and I am a Canadian and live in Canada. The first transaction I tried worked well in Canadian dollars but the next transaction, with a Canadian company and in Canadian dollars would only be allowed in US Dollars. The end result was Canadian dollars but the currency stated was in US Dollars and converted to Canadian dollars - of course with a transaction fee. Can I have  Paypal account that deals in Canadian dollars or is it only a US Dollar facility that charges a transaction fee every time I want to use it in Canada? The company I was trying to purchase from is a Canadian Company in Canada and they assured me that they were dealing in Canadian dollars and had not had problems like this before. Did I somehow click a box somewhere that told Paypal that I only wanted to deal in US Dollars??? If so, how do I unclick it??? I also have a Paypal account that deals only in US Dollars. It works fine.

[PayPal_JonK · Accepted solution]

Hello @ronn99999, 

Welcome to the PayPal Community. I can understand how there can be some confusion regarding which currency is charged for a given transaction. In short, what sets the charge on the PayPal side of the transaction is what currency the item is you're purchasing, and what currency your funding source is set to. For example, if you purchase a hat that is listed in CAD, and you purchase it with a CAD card, bank, or PayPal balance it stays in CAD and no conversion is necessary. However, if that hat is listed as CAD, and you purchase it with a card, bank, or PayPal balance is set for USD, then there would be a conversion there. 

Normally, the bank or card is set by the locale the bank or card is from. However, card's can be set to be charged in a different currency by contacting our Customer Support and requesting the card's currency be changed. Please keep in mind, that may still not change any currency conversions needed on the bank or card's side of the transaction if the card is funded by a different currency on their end. 

I hope that helps clear up a bit of confusion. Best wishes on your future transactions, 

 - Jon K

[ronn99999]

Thanks JonK. I tried it again with another payee and it worked fine. I have no idea what happened with the BC guy. He assures me that he only deals in Canadian dollars even though Paypal insisted in dealing in US dollars. Since it works fine now in Canadian dollars I will just chalk it up to an anomaly. Thanks for your explanation.